Bringing It Home for the Home Team

Last Tuesday, June 16 Home Team BBQ in West Ashley was packed as friends and customers came out to watch the 13th episode of Season 23 of the popular Food Network cooking competition show Chopped. Home Team BBQ partner and executive chef/pitmaster Taylor Garrigan faced off at the Chopped kitchen in New York City with three other Charleston chefs to try and win $10,000 and bragging rights.
Garrigan’s competitors were Jimi Hatt of Guerrilla Cuisine, Deljuan Murphy of Fleet Landing, and Heather Edwards of Cannon Bar & Kitchen in North Charleston. The theme for this episode was “Big Barbeque Bout,” with each round featuring a different kind of regional barbecue sauce (South Carolina, North Carolina, and Kansas City style). So while it seemed this was right in Garrigan’s wheelhouse, it proved to be quite a challenge as he battled his fellow Charlestonians and the clock. As any pitmaster worth his dry rub knows, barbecue takes time. But the whole point of Chopped is to put the chefs on the spot by not telling them what the ingredients in the basket are and then have them prepare an appetizer in 20 minutes, an entrée in 30 minutes, and a dessert in 30 minutes. After every course, one chef gets “chopped,” until there is only one chef left standing.
“Making a dish in 20 minutes from start to finish is a challenge even when you have a plan,” says Garrigan. “I really just focused on the grill, tried to stay true to the theme, and focus on simplicity.  You don’t have much time so again its real important to stick to the fundamentals and how they relate to the ingredients you have been presented with.”
According to Garrigan, when he was approached by Chopped producers back in 2014 he wasn’t really sure how to prepare for the show. “I figured the best way to prepare was to try to build on my knowledge of fundamentals and ingredients and expose myself as much as I could to other environments,” says Garrigan.
Garrigan’s older brother, Todd Garrigan, is also a well know chef in town and he encouraged his little brother to come down to his restaurant, Craftsmen Kitchen and Tap House, and work a few shifts. “We have always bounced ideas off each other and Todd is a very versatile and talented chef,” says Garrigan. “Before service, Todd would put together baskets of food and try to create a situation that was similar to how the show works.” In addition, Garrigan’s good friend Jon Banta is the chef at the Atlantic Room at the Ocean course on Kiawah. “He invited me out to his kitchen for a few days. Both experiences were key components in getting my mind right for the show,” says Garrigan.
For the appetizer round, Garrigan prepared salt and pepper shrimp with a bacon mustard green purée. Garrigan was complimented for how he cooked the jumbo shrimp (they were the biggest shrimp you’ve ever seen!) and got props for creating an heirloom tomato pico de gallo to go on top.
In the entrée round, Garrigan wowed the judges by grilling pork ribs and serving them with rainbow chard two ways. “This is a real nice approach of taking the essence of barbecue, and how soulful it is, and doing something very buttoned up,” said chef Aarón Sánchez. Following the round, you could sense the added pressure Garrigan was under. “That was a tough round. As the guy who cooks barbecue day in and day out, it definitely added a little ‘oh sh*&$!’,” he said to his fellow competitors. But Garrigan survived the round and advanced to the dessert round where he went head-to-heard with Fleet Landing’s Deljuan Murphy, who specializes in pastries and desserts.
A little out of his element, Garrigan stayed cool under pressure and prepared a banana split with chocolate barbecue sauce. Using the sweetness of the rich Kansas City barbecue sauce and the bitter sweetness of the chocolate, Garrigan’s sauce seemed to win over the judges. “I think the sauce is good, man. You took the best aspects of that barbecue sauce and highlighted it,” complimented Sánchez.
Garrigan and Murphy were sent out of the room while the three judges and the host Ted Allen discussed all three of the chefs’ dishes. It really seemed like it could have gone either way as the judges struggled to choose the champion and winner of the $10,000. “I think it comes down to a larger question: Who embraced the barbecue and the theme of a barbecue? And who gave us food that we might want to eat during, before and after a barbecue?,” asked judged Alex Guarnashelli. After pondering that for a bit, there was little debate that Garrigan was the Chopped champion of the night.
“Winning chopped feels great. But anything you do, you want to be successful. And when you put yourself out there, it’s just a good feeling to come out on top,” said Garrigan at the end of the show. “I think Charleston has put itself on a culinary map. We have some great chefs there. And I was the last Charleston chef standing.”
Garrigan said the whole experience is something he will always look back on and smile. While the show was filmed about a year ago, he had to keep the results under wraps, not even telling Home Team’s marketing and PR company. So at the viewing party last week, the room erupted when the judges announced Garrigan as the winner. “I was blown away by the support of  my co-workers,  friends, family, and Charleston in general,” said Garrigan. “I will always be thankful to be able to cook and run my business in this great city.  All in all it was good times at the Food Network and in New York City.”